DALLAS - Exxon Mobil shareholders voted down measures to explicitly ban discrimination against gays and to reduce production of greenhouse gas emissions at the oil company's annual meeting Wednesday.

The yearly meeting used to draw dozens of protesters from environmental and human-rights groups, but there was only a lone demonstrator outside as this year's proceedings began in an ornate symphony hall.

A retirement fund for New York state employees proposed that Exxon ban bias based on sexual orientation. The Exxon board opposed the measure, saying that the company already prohibits all types of discrimination and doesn't need to add language regarding gays. The proposal was rejected by a 4-to-1 ratio.

Last year, shareholders rejected a similar anti-bias measure and another on climate change.

Shareholders also voted on another resolution proposed by a religious group from Caldwell to set goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from Exxon products and operations.

The proposal, made by the Sisters of St. Dominic of Caldwell, called for Exxon to publicly establish specific, measured targets for decreasing its carbon emissions. It was co-signed by more than 40 additional members of the Tri-State Coalition for Responsible Investment, an alliance of Roman Catholic investors based in Montclair. Shareholders voted down the resolution by a ratio of about 3-to-1.

Sister Patricia Daly, the executive director of the coalition and a member of the Sisters of St. Dominic of Caldwell, has been attending Exxon's annual shareholder meeting for the past 15 years. Daly's organization uses shareholder resolutions as a way to address global warming and other social issues with a variety of corporations. In 2005, the coalition helped pass a similar resolution at Ford Motor Co., pushing the auto company to issue a comprehensive climate change report. They have been consistently unsuccessful at Exxon. "If you're going to be a shareholder in any of these companies," Daly said, "the state of the planet really demands that you be engaged."

The Sisters of St. Dominic of Caldwell also own shares in energy company Chevron Corp.

Exxon is tapping tar-sands oil in Canada and using hydraulic fracturing to boost U.S. production of natural gas. Environmentalists oppose both practices and say that Exxon should invest more to develop wind, solar and geothermal energy. The company has made forays into alternative energy sources but argues that the world will be dependent on oil for decades.

"Exxon Mobil's goal is to be the premier petrochemical and petroleum company in the world," CEO Rex Tillerson said as he discussed the company's activities.

Exxon Mobil Corp. is coming off its second-biggest profit ever, having earned $44.9 billion in 2012.